Module mod_auth_anon

Summary

This module does access control in a manner similar to
anonymous-ftp sites; i.e. have a 'magic' user id
'anonymous' and the email address as a password. These email
addresses can be logged.

Combined with other (database) access control methods, this
allows for effective user tracking and customization according
to a user profile while still keeping the site open for
'unregistered' users. One advantage of using Auth-based user
tracking is that, unlike magic-cookies and funny URL
pre/postfixes, it is completely browser independent and it
allows users to share URLs.

The example below (when combined with the Auth directives of a
htpasswd-file based (or GDM, mSQL etc.) base access
control system allows users in as 'guests' with the following
properties:

It insists that the user enters a userId.
(Anonymous_NoUserId)

It insists that the user enters a password.
(Anonymous_MustGiveEmail)

The password entered must be a valid email address, ie.
contain at least one '@' and a '.'.
(Anonymous_VerifyEmail)

The userID must be one of anonymous guest www test
welcome and comparison is not case
sensitive.

And the Email addresses entered in the passwd field are
logged to the error log file
(Anonymous_LogEmail)

Excerpt of httpd.conf:

Anonymous_NoUserId off
Anonymous_MustGiveEmail on
Anonymous_VerifyEmail on
Anonymous_LogEmail on
Anonymous anonymous guest www test welcome
AuthName "Use 'anonymous' & Email address for guest entry"
AuthType basic
# An AuthUserFile/AuthDBUserFile/AuthDBMUserFile
# directive must be specified, or use
# Anonymous_Authoritative for public access.
# In the .htaccess for the public directory, add:
<Files *>
Order Deny,Allow
Allow from all
Require valid-user
</Files>

A list of one or more 'magic' userIDs which are allowed
access without password verification. The userIDs are space
separated. It is possible to use the ' and " quotes to allow a
space in a userID as well as the \ escape character.

Please note that the comparison is
case-IN-sensitive.
I strongly suggest that the magic username
'anonymous' is always one of the allowed
userIDs.

Example:Anonymous anonymous "Not Registered" 'I don\'t
know'

This would allow the user to enter without password
verification by using the userId's 'anonymous',
'AnonyMous','Not Registered' and 'I Don't Know'.

When set 'on', there is no fall-through to other
authorization methods. So if a userID does not match the values
specified in the Anonymous directive, access is
denied.

Be sure you know what you are doing when you decide to
switch it on. And remember that it is the linking order of the
modules (in the Configuration / Make file) which details the
order in which the Authorization modules are queried.

When set 'on', the default, the 'password' entered (which
hopefully contains a sensible email address) is logged in the
error log. The message is logged at a level of info,
and so you must have LogLevel set
to at least info in order to see this message.

When set 'on', users can leave the userID (and perhaps the
password field) empty. This can be very convenient for
MS-Explorer users who can just hit return or click directly on
the OK button; which seems a natural reaction.